[class build] Cipher 3.0 "Mr. Speedo" Ranged frenzied maniac

[ottffsse]

This is the Mr. (or Ms.) "Speedo" cipher. Priorities are speed and damage all the time. Here is how to get the most out of your cipher sniper by level 6.

 

 

Race: island aumaua or death godlike

 

Stats potd:

 

Might: max

Con: 5

Dex: 13 (14 if you drop con a point)

Per: 16

Int: max

Res: 5

 

You can shore up your resolve and con with talents / items during the game. You have to be careful but you won't get one shotted like with 3/3 con res. But you can get two shotted especially early on so be careful.

 

Talents

 

Island aumaua level 2: biting whip 4: quickswitch 6: outlander frenzy

 

Beyond level 8 it's more flexible but some talents like penetrating shot is a must and draining whip is highly recommended:

8+: probably marksman if you find you need more acc, then more damage talents like heart of storm, penetrating shot, apprentice sneak attack, draining whip or arms bearer as last talent if you find you still need more focus generation, if you have too much focus generation still get greater focus and weapon focus instead.

 

Death godlike (I personally prefer that because I am primarily a soul shock / and hopefully later amp wave spammed lol)

 

2: biting whip 4: arms bearer 6: outlanders frenzy

 

*for death godlike you need coil of resourcefulness asap for - 1 weapon recovery.

 

For both builds I recommend getting stormcaller asap. Until then persistence or sagani hunting bow can suffice in your third weapon slot up until late game final weapon slot.

 

Again level 8: penetrating shot, 10 heart of the storm 12: bloody slaughter 14+: quick-switch(optionall, or marksman, and baby sneak attack or draining whip are good choices).

 

Basic playstyle: burst generate focus fast at the start of the fight via quickswitch,using an arquebus shot and a blunderbuss shot, unload spells, than switch to bow (stormcaller) hit outlander frenzy and keep attacking and unloading more spells fast. 100% tested working and reliable. Who can say no to mini 25% increase in attack speed per encounter which doesn't cost anything and is an instant cast?

 

negligible recovery bar using hunting bow attacks from level 6, no need to wait for time parasite, all the time with no focus cost!

 

I personally see a lot of potential in death godlike deaths usher+stormcaller+heart of the storm+soul shock+bloody slaughter synergy,in dealing very good aoe damage.

 

To compensate for lack of accuracy talents having at least a paladin and maybe also a priest is highly recommended. Plus the good old gauntlets of accuracy. If pallegina opens a battle with flames of devotion and has the appropriate extra talent you immediately get a 25% speed boost from the start while you are switching your guns and generating focus. Later you activate outlander frenzy yourself and pretty much fight the whole fight at a 25% speed and might boost to boot.

 

Oh and this build is fun because it is fairly simple and does not require that much micro just two phases in a fight really, both highly efficient: opening when you use your guns to snipe priory targets like mages and generate focus and the continuation when you go into baby frenzy and mop up the remaining enemies who are near your front line by then and ripe for mind wave / soul shock spam.

 

Try it out! I find it makes a cipher into a super action hero cipher as fast as possible (by level 6).

 

And as stated death godlike will need the coil of resourcefulness belt asap to take arms bearer instead of quickswitch and be on paar (almost) with the island aumaua.

 

Edit: also of big importance is that in 3.0 if you buff your survival asap you get racial accuracy bonuses really fast and can neglect accuracy talents as this build suggests in favor of those other more fun and punchy talents.

Edited February 22, 2016 by ottffsse

[ottffsse]

And thinking about it death godlike + bloody slaughter can also be quite good on a retaliation cipher too but retaliation items are only acquired later in the game and the build above is already beastly at level 6.

[nem0]

This is closer to a high micro build relative to cipher.  Cipher does everything great so it doesn't really matter what you do with them as long as they are gaining focus.  However, I would say that Death Godlike is a waste of a race in general. They only do 20% extra damage when opponents are below 25% hp, which means at best it adds 6.25% extra damage overall(less in reality since they might not be the one hitting them at low hp and damage done before the the 25% threshold is generally going to go past it leaving a smaller window to get a hit and benefit from the passive).  What this means is that it is approximately 2 might worth of damage but you have to constantly micro to make sure they target the correct opponent.  If you pick wood elf you would have a constant +4 ACC(at range) which translates to about the same amount of damage or more on average.  In addition you would be able to wear headgear, since godlike cant wear them, which could give you adds extra stats and potentially more damage.

[Boeroer]

I also like Death Godlike + Bloody Slaughter.

 

I really love Death Godlike + Bloody Slaughter + Heart of Fury + Doemenel's Talent + Azalin's Helmet + Dungeon Delver + dual wielding annihilating Weapons with Durgan Refinement. Ah, and a priest of course.

[MaxQuest]

Basic playstyle: burst generate focus fast at the start of the fight via quickswitch,using an arquebus shot and a blunderbuss shot, unload spells, than switch to bow (stormcaller) hit outlander frenzy and keep attacking and unloading more spells fast. 100% tested working and reliable. Who can say no to mini 25% increase in attack speed per encounter which doesn't cost anything and is an instant cast?

But.. isn't Outlander Frenzy an average cast speed?

 

 

 

 

[ottffsse]

 

Basic playstyle: burst generate focus fast at the start of the fight via quickswitch,using an arquebus shot and a blunderbuss shot, unload spells, than switch to bow (stormcaller) hit outlander frenzy and keep attacking and unloading more spells fast. 100% tested working and reliable. Who can say no to mini 25% increase in attack speed per encounter which doesn't cost anything and is an instant cast?

But.. isn't Outlander Frenzy an average cast speed?

 

 

 

It feels much faster than chucking a potion. Actually very noticeable faster. But I also don't wear armor and have high Dex and am sometimes on the tail end of pallegina's 20% attack haste effect as I hit the frenzy button to continue the fun.

 

It seems that potions have sometimes a weird delay where your toon doesn't do anything for half a second before taking the pot. Abilities don't have that.

Edited February 21, 2016 by ottffsse

[stratigo]

 

 

Basic playstyle: burst generate focus fast at the start of the fight via quickswitch,using an arquebus shot and a blunderbuss shot, unload spells, than switch to bow (stormcaller) hit outlander frenzy and keep attacking and unloading more spells fast. 100% tested working and reliable. Who can say no to mini 25% increase in attack speed per encounter which doesn't cost anything and is an instant cast?

But.. isn't Outlander Frenzy an average cast speed?

 

 

 

It feels much faster than chucking a potion. Actually very noticeable faster. But I also don't wear armor and have high Dex and am sometimes on the tail end of pallegina's 20% attack haste effect as I hit the frenzy button to continue the fun.

 

It seems that potions have sometimes a weird delay where your toon doesn't do anything for half a second before taking the pot. Abilities don't have that.

 

You know, I'm finding this too. my retaliation cypher constantly flubs chugging a potion in the middle of a fight.

[JiggleFloyd]

I used to do a build similar to this but I think that dedicating a race and two talents / items (Quickswitch, Arms Bearer + Coil of Resourcefulness) just for two or three gun shots with weapons that don't benefit from your weapon focus just isn't very efficient. The burst of Focus is nice though so I can definitely see why people like it, but the Cipher is desperate for talents, and as the game progresses gaining focus really isn't difficult. Maybe it's good to start with a build like this but change it near the end.

 

Wood Elf is just a better race for ranged builds in my opinion, that is if you can create the space for them most of the time.

The Outlander's Frenzy talent is great until you get Time Parasite.

There are better belts than Coil of Resourcefulness that you would rather use if you could.

The same goes for Quickswitch / Arms Bearer talent.

 

If you really want to go guns then just going a Blunderbuss / Arquebus Cipher with a supporting Chanter by your side would probably make more sense. But again, the talents are tough to come by, and you have to squeeze in Gunner somehow.

[indika_tates]

A cipher with a durganized Engwithan Scepter + Sure Handed-Ila + Dangerous implements can generate a lot of focus. It's like a machinegun But nothing beats the stormcaller one, sadly. Forget about 5CON,5RES two stat points are not going to save you. A cipher is frail and if you get focused by mobs you die. Specially since we all love to wear clothes. Wood elf is EVER the better choice and with 3 RES you have the same DEF as no-wood elf character with 8RES.

 

Aumaua quick-switch is viable, I finished a POTD run with it. But that was the last time I ever play a quick-switch char. One time, no more.

 

Outlander's frenzy is not worth the talent IMO. If you want speed, get addicted to DAOM's potions & Svef. For talents, I would go: Biting whip, weapon focus, draining whip, apprentice sneak attack, penetrating shot, h. of storm (if stormcaller), marksman, bloody slaughter.

Edited March 26, 2017 by indika_tates

[firkraag888]

A cipher with a durganized Engwithan Scepter + Sure Handed-Ila + Dangerous implements can generate a lot of focus. It's like a machinegun But nothing beats the stormcaller one, sadly. Forget about 5CON,5RES two stat points are not going to save you. A cipher is frail and if you get focused by mobs you die. Specially since we all love to wear clothes. Wood elf is EVER the better choice and with 3 RES you have the same DEF as no-wood elf character with 8RES.

 

Aumaua quick-switch is viable, I finished a POTD run with it. But that was the last time I ever play a quick-switch char. One time, no more.

 

Outlander's frenzy is not worth the talent IMO. If you want speed, get addicted to DAOM's potions & Svef. For talents, I would go: Biting whip, weapon focus, draining whip, apprentice sneak attack, penetrating shot, h. of storm (if stormcaller), marksman, bloody slaughter.

Once you hit mid to high levels on POTD a cipher is not frail. No class is frail at that point and you just steamroll everything.